Banished

BANISHED is basically a simplified version of Tropico without the politics or tourists and set in a climate that snows in the winter. The snow is really nice for those of us who want sim games to be like making a painting that moves :). I love that I have not yet encountered violence or misogyny in this game!!! My primary complaint is that Stuff Happens and You Don't Know Why. In my first attempt, everything seemed to be going ok and the town was up to 32 people then everyone started to die and I was left with 2 people in poor health. Similarly, the alert system was not reliable and did not always give enough detail to be useful. Also worth mentioning is that camera changes, including moving around on the map, are very slow on my system (a couple year old Intel integrated video). I didn't find this too annoying during the game (zoom out to keep an eye on things) but it was super obvious at the start of the first tutorial.

A terrific city-builder. Survival is not easy and the complexity is surprisingly high. As a beginner, you should be prepared to start from the beginning more often, because you will not survive the winter. Once you get the hang of it, there's something missing for long-term motivation. The city gets bigger and bigger, and eventually takes care of itself. I had a lot of fun.

Ok, I am writing this review after 4 years after the game was supposed to be 'fully released'. Paid 16 Euros. Not worth it. I would give it a 2.5 star review, but it seems I cannot do that. Anyway. the game concept is nice. And I really like it. As well as the atmosphere of the game overall. But there are some things I cannot go over for a thing that is supposed to have had 4 years to get fixed. Here is my list of complains: AI. AI, AI Information Like seriously AI 1. Logistics AI aka Gathering and distribution. I sometimes have huge piles of materials (coal, logs, stone etc. ) and one or two building projects and the resources do not get distributed there for like 8 seasons or more. (For example, I need a Foresters lounge urgently. Stick one in the middle of the woods not far from town). 9 seasons pass, it cannot start construction because 5 stone missing. I HAVE 85 in STORAGE, but nooo. won't build that despite the fact that I have 3 builders). And further away from the village you have a building, less **** they seem to give about it. AI 2 WTF AI. Like seriously. 2-3 dudes wonder around in the middle of winter on the other side of the map. They were also essential to my buildings, so they had no reason to go there. AI 3. Lack of reinforcements. The only way to quickly boost population is through nomads. But for them you need a Trading post. Good luck getting that without an asston of luck to spawn in the right location on the map(for reasons mentioned above) Overlays, lack of. For a game that makes differentiation of resources a main issue(like not just food, but different types required) the info of how to get them is pretty limited. Like for a Foresters to work, you need areas with OLD trees, not just trees, but old ones. Good luck finding them. Same for Herbalists. Personally, if you want a city building game, go for Tropico 4, better than 5 imo. It has a funnier tone, more options to play around and more info to the player

Like others have said this game IS really good. It's harsh and unforgiving which will keep you on your toes. However, I found it quite annoying that a small group trying to survive in the wild and make a new life should be gulping down heaps of food whenever it's available. If anything, they should be eating just enough to make it. I've had a small community go through a truck load of fish and herbs in no time. Unless the fish were guppies they should've lasted much longer. Also, it would be helpful to have updates on how the community is progressing displayed on screen. I'd say wait for sale, like I did, and grab it.

Well, this is a game that generally does exactly what it says on the description. And, the other people's comments were all true. It's a nice and decently complex village management game, with fun possibility to build your own town in just the way that you want to. You set up buildings and assign villagers to work on them, and watch them grow and thrive. However, that is pretty much all there is. There is no real "endgame" situation, and at one point, your village should stabilize in a self-sufficient way. And for large periods of real time in between that, there is nothing else that you can really do except just sit there, with time dilation on 5x or 10x waiting for your projects to finish and for the next to start. Just waiting while your villagers happily multiply, or suddenly start to starve because a couple of them moved into the one house that isn't fully stocked yet. And most of all, there is basically no uncertainty, no events to shake up the situation. There are basically no random events, no wildlife or bandit attacks. No storms, particularly harsh winters, floods or anything of the sort. Traders come and go extremely slowly, you'll spend years without seeing one at the early game. In the end, I realized I was just sitting there doing nothing. It surely is relaxing, but one man's relaxing can be another one's boring. It's cheap enough to give it a try, and it's not a bad game. Just be aware of those things.